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Peer Reviews

The term “peer,” which generally refers to colleague or counterpart, indicates experts with a wealth of expertise in the nuclear industry.

Peer reviews are attempts to raise the safety and reliability of nuclear power facilities. Experts visit nuclear plants or manufacturers in peer reviews, and based on their professional standpoint, they evaluate performances that are associated with ensuring the safety (nuclear, radiation, and industrial safety) and reliability of nuclear power facilities.

Procedures of a peer review

In a lead-up to narrowing down the items subject to the review (i.e. focus areas), nuclear power facilities provide preliminary information before the review. While the review is underway, the reviewers evaluate nuclear power facilities’ activities in terms of nuclear safety improvement by observing facility performances, interviewing facility personnel, and hosting discussions according to the narrowed-down focus areas.

Evaluations in a peer review

In the context of peer reviews, “evaluation” indicates to specify “Area for Improvement (AFI)”, an essential factor to raise the safety and reliability of nuclear power facilities, and “Strength (STR),” which provides benefit to fellow facilities by utilizing observations of nuclear power facility performance.

STR illustrates the activities or processes that have resulted in quality outcomes or prominent performances demonstrated by the facilities or organizations undergoing peer reviews. STR includes performances that should be shared and set as a model in the nuclear industry, as well as initiatives that function to practically improve performances in a bid to achieve excellence of the nuclear industry.

AFI illustrates the disparity between excellence and the nuclear power facilities’ performance; it refers to defective actions, behaviors, processes, or operations that are possibly or considerably influencing facility performances. AFI enables to identify shortcomings that nuclear power facilities are unaware of, or offer a new perspective to address the shortcomings they have known.